Iran, Russia and Turkey, guarantors of the Syria cease-fire, reaffirmed their strong commitment to the Arab country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity after a tripartite foreign ministerial meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The Iranian ambassador to Belarus and Belarusian minister of industries examined ways of expanding mutual cooperation in a meeting in Minsk Wednesday simultaneous with the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

A US-educated former Kazakh economy minister once viewed as leading a crop of young modernizers in the oil-rich country was convicted Wednesday of corruption charges and handed a 10-year prison sentence.